Jim FisherOlympus PEN E-PM1The Olympus E-PM1 may be the smallest member of the Micro Four Thirds PEN family, but it delivers the same solid build quality and good-looking images as its larger siblings—and it’s lightning fast.

The Olympus E-PM1 may be the smallest member of the Micro Four Thirds PEN family, but it delivers the same solid build quality and good-looking images as its larger siblings—and it’s lightning fast.

The Olympus PEN E-PM1 ($499.99 direct with 14-42mm kit lens), nicknamed the PEN Mini, is the smallest, lightest and least-expensive entry in the current Olympus Micro Four Thirds lineup. This compact interchangeable-lens camera is designed to be easy for photography novices, but also offers more advanced menu options to satisfy experienced shutterbugs. It doesn’t offer the best image quality in its class, that honor goes to the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 ($649.95, 4.5 stars), but there is a lot of value to be found when you consider its cost—and its small size.

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Design, Features, and User InterfaceThe 12-megapixel PEN Mini is strikingly simple in its design. Its aluminum body is finished in black, silver, white, brown, pink, or purple, each offset with a chrome lens mount and top plate. You don’t get a front hand grip, but a rubber thumb grip is located on the rear right to help you get a good grab on the small camera. Measuring 2.5 by 4.3 by 1.3 inches (HWD), the camera is close in size to the 2.5-by-4.3-by-1.5-inch PEN E-PL3 ($699.99, 3.5 stars). But it weighs just 7.7 ounces without a lens, compared with the E-PL3’s 9.3 ounces. The included 14-42mm M. Zuiko zoom lens adds about 3.9 ounces of weight and 2 inches of depth to the camera. The lens has a locking mechanism that allows you to collapse the barrel for storage, making it easier to squeeze into your camera bag. The Editors’ Choice Sony NEX-C3’s body is about the same size as the PEN Mini, but its larger kit lens doesn’t collapse, making the E-PM1 a more compact option for travel. Like the E-PL3, the PEN Mini lacks a built-in flash. To compensate, an external pop-up flash is included with the camera. This only adds a little bit of bulk to the body, and it’s quick to attach and can be stowed easily in an accessory compartment in your bag. The flash occupies the Mini’s accessory port, so you won’t be able to use it at the same time as an electronic viewfinder or another accessory like the Penpal Blueooth module ($79.99, 3 stars). If you opt to just leave the flash on the camera, you can enable or disable it by raising or lowering it.

The camera offers few physical controls: The On/Off switch and shutter release are located on the top panel, with a dedicated Movie Record button placed on the top right of the rear plate. Three buttons (Info, Menu, Play) and a four-way jog wheel with a center OK button are positioned on the right rear. Advanced users will appreciate the ability to remap the buttons on the camera via the Setup Menu, although that ability is limited to the Movie Record button and the up and right directions on the 4-way jog wheel.

The rear 3-inch LCD is very sharp thanks to a high 460k-dot resolution. You’ll be able to use it on bright days without a problem. It is fixed to the body, which is limiting when compared with the tilting LCDs featured on the E-PL3 and Sony NEX-C3. Unless you opt to purchase the optional electronic viewfinder, you’ll have to use the camera like a point-and-shoot, raising it to eye level, extending several inches from your face to confirm framing and focus in the LCD.

The menu system differs from that of the Olympus PEN E-P3 ($899.99, 4 stars) or E-PL3. Hitting the Menu brings up a colorful, bright screen that is divided into six columns: Art, iAuto, Scene, Movie, P/A/S/M, and Setup. The Art mode allows you to choose from one of six creative effects (Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama, and Dramatic Tone), making it easy to shoot photos with a unique look and feel, without having to labor with Picasa or iPhoto filters.

iAuto mode is perfect for photography newbies. You won’t have to worry about adjusting settings, as the camera handles everything for you. If you do opt to fine-tune your shots, the PEN Mini’s Live Guide makes it possible to do so without having to understand any technical terms. Would you like to blur your background? You won’t have to know that opening the lens to a wider aperture will do so—simply move the slider for this function from sharp to blurry. Shutter speed is controlled via the Stop Motion setting and exposure is referred to as Brightness. There’s also a menu of shooting tips, identical to those on the E-PL3, but the information contained within is very, very basic.

The Scene menu will be familiar to point-and-shoot users. You can optimize camera settings for a variety of situations, including sunsets, fireworks, portraits, and many more. The Movie mode allows you to switch the camera to record HD movies, which is necessary if you choose to remap the dedicated Record button to control another function. The P/A/S/M mode is present for shutterbugs looking for more control over the camera. And you can control virtually any aspect of the camera via the Setup menu.

I experienced the same frustrations with the Menu system as I did with the E-PL3 when using the camera in Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, or Manual modes. You need to first hit OK to access settings and then use the Up/Down buttons on the jog wheel to scroll through the options. Animated transitions slow the use of these menus, further hindering their use.

Olympus PEN E-PM1

Bottom Line: The Olympus E-PM1 may be the smallest member of the Micro Four Thirds PEN family, but it delivers the same solid build quality and good-looking images as its larger siblings—and it’s lightning fast.

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About the Author

Senior digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team, Jim Fisher is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really took off when he borrowed his father's Hasselblad 500C and light meter in 2007. He honed his writing skills at re... See Full Bio

Olympus PEN E-PM1

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